It is a watershed in that a lesser known craftsman beat out a field filled with celebrity golfers? Yes. Obviously so. I am sure nobody that had to put their entire fortune on the line in a bet would have picked Gil Hanse.
Is it a watershed, a Tipping Point that will allow this to repeatedly happen? I don't see it. It may help on occasion for those who practice in a similar manner. There aren't but a tiny group who work in the manner of Gil Hanse. You can chop off a lot of fingers and still count the number.
McSignature architects are a default choice by many developers and will remain so. Until the dominant crop retire, they'll continue to add to their laundry list of projects. After they retire, the landscape will be different.
It's a big day for golf architecture, will generate a significant amount of discussion, and that's a good thing for the handful of practitioners who work in a similar manner.
Many congratulations to Team Hanse. It's a great day for golf architecture.
McSignature -
Tony, that is too good. I think you have coined a term. I hope you don't mind if I repeat it.
Alas, not many golf architects retire (most die with their boots on). Not to say some might migrate to other lines of employment.
Many have defined just what exactly the Watershed moment is to them.
While I agree that the aveage grill room player has no clue as to what's going on, I venture to say he never did nor will - he just takes what is offered.
Nor will this relate to anything Minimalism - I actually think that was a past Moment that has evolved into what we see as Naturalisim and sustainability is a derivative of that.
To me, the Watershed Moment is the fact that a Non-Golf visionary group made the decision that they did not need the marketing hype that comes with the IMG model.
I said Non-Golf visionary to expound upon the notion that a select group of visonaries (those listed above) have been selecting this avenue for over a decade already. The difference is they were selecting those who they felt could carry out THEIR vision, the Build It and THey Will Come mindset. And if that failed, well, it was their money that was at stake, not the CEO's of their corporation.
As I've seen over the decades in golf development, many of the decision makers are not the top guy in the company. It is more important to them they don't strike out than it is for them to hit a home run. In many cases, they just look around and see what they last guy down the street did and copy that in a "if it worked for them, it will work for me". Unfortunately, in the 80's and 90's, when all the courses were being built, this led to a majority to be decided upon in this manner. No Risk, Stay Safe.
The Visionary developers broke from that mold because it was their money and they could afford the risk. But they weren't going to buy insurance in the form of the Marketing Marqee name. They were assute enough to realize that behind Mr. McSignature (see how I already worked that in
), there was a stable of talented but often reigned-in Journeymen architects actually doing all the heavy lifting, so why not cut to the chase and just get one of them to do the work, cut out the bloated expense, and see were that off-the-leash freedom takes them.
I hope that is what the IOC thought, but the fact that they prescibed to unilaterally impose fee and budget limits up front show that they weren't quite sure if they wouuld get what they were after if they let the free market prevail.
Let's hope, in a decade or 2, when we look back on this moment we do see that this is where Developers (not Visonaries) began to realize that they are better served with Journeyman Architects and not McSignatures.
I don't think (except with maybe dropping the Atom Bomb) do we know a Watershed Moment when it happens but rather it must be defined by the path history takes.